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Saturday, June 02, 2012

English Poets Sue
Guiney and Ruth O’Callaghan: Popping Over the Pond to Somerville, Mass.

By Doug Holder

Recently on my show
Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer on Somerville Community Access TV I had the
opportunity to interview two accomplished poets who were visiting from
London: Sue Guiney and Ruth O’Callaghan.

Guiney, a native of New York City has lived in England for over 20 years. She
has two poetry collections published, and recently a novel titled A Clash of Innocents that was published
by Blue Chrome Publishing in 2006.

Ruth O’Callaghan, a
native of London holds the prestigious Hawthornden Fellowship and is a prize- winner
in international competitions. She is an international competition adjudicator,
and hosts two poetry venues in London. She is currently compiling a book of
interviews with prominent women poets from around the globe.

Doug Holder: Ruth, how did you receive this American poet on
the English scene?

Ruth O’Callaghan: Well Sue has a different voice and
background. She is such a nice and outgoing person. She is not totally brash as
some might expect being that she is from the States, and New York City. Perhaps
she has been tempered by the English weather. (Laugh) I’ve known other American
poets who have been brash.

DH: Both you and Sue have embraced poetry and writing and
aligned it with charitable efforts.

RO: In my case I was at church and I happened to be sitting
next to a minister. She told me a group of seven churches were banding together
to read at homeless shelters. I became involved. I know extremely well-known
poets who could read for free. They attracted an audience to the shelters. We
took in money for the shelters and it has been a very successful effort. It is
good for the hosting churches and publishers who get a free venue for their
poets. A London venue costs up to 600 pounds. We have ordinary poets read with
famous ones and some really good things have come from this. Publishers have
found some very good poets at my venues and asked me to send them more.

Sue Guiney: Charitable work has not only come from my poetry
but from my fiction. I have a novel that has come out of that is the first in a
trilogy, Clash of Innocents and it
takes place in modern day Cambodia. Cambodia is a country that I have grown to
love over the past 5 or 6 years. Through the work I do in writing I have been
able to connect with an educational shelter for street kids in the city of Siem
Reap. I have set up a writing workshop in English for teenage kids in the
shelter. The English program is being taught on-line and on-site, and I spend
at least one month a year in Cambodia. When I teach online I give students
editorial comments. I use the sales of my books to support the work that I do
there. I am now the Writer-In-Residence to the SE Asia Department of the
University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

DH: Ruth you told me
you were fearful about writing poetry at first?

RC: I just didn’t have any confidence. I always wanted to be
a poet. I had been teaching Special Education students for years. But I felt I
was wasting my time because I wasn’t fully committed. I then decided to commit
myself to poetry. It was a turning point for me.

First Time

I didn’t stay with you forever,
although forever started that first night
when you lifted me into your arms
cradling me, not like a baby
but like a swan,
my long neck curling over
the muscles of your crooked arm.

Softly you settled me onto the quilt
your grandmother had wrapped around her treasures
as she said goodbye to home.
I remember the tired strength of the thread between
the panels, the softness of the fading cotton.

The skin around your chest was even softer,
and the tiny hairs that marched straight down, down,
down to where I’d never been before.

You were not heavy above me.
I don’t recall an unyielding force inside.
Instead, your body and mine,
your face, our lips,
the coverlet on top, the wrinkled sheets,
all were soft, safe, soft,
and stayed with me forever.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

An Edward Hopper painting captures the essence of human
aloneness against an indifferent American landscape, whether urban, rural, or
open as a prairie. And so do the poems in Wendy Drexler’s first collection,
“Western Motel,” which takes its name as well as its cover illustration from
the Hopper painting. With courage and a light touch these poems speak to the
personal struggle of shedding one’s past, often one of disillusionment, and of
finding, with intrinsic American style, a way to reinvent one’s self. The book
opens with this startling and effective poem, “Janis Joplin At Monterey:”

Hoarse with it, coarse with it,

the shrill trills and come-on cries,

no slaking that voice, that thirst a saber

of
thistles and pearl,

that American way of making it

all up, severing the tyranny

of home
ties, peacocking,

packed tight in gold lame

like gunpowder,

her colonies rebellious, and all

embargoed cargo dumped

from the dock.

Drexler has chosen well, for Joplin is an icon of the scorched soul in
search of a new self, and the poet’s raw and peacocky language hits the right
note, grabbing center stage. The implication here is that the American impulse
for self- reinvention originated in colonial times when colonists threw off the
tax shackles of the paternalistic British in a revolt known as the Boston Tea
Party.

The speaker in these poems, who could be the woman in the
painting with her direct gaze, wants to tell us about how she got here, about
the life or lives she has lived, and where she may be headed. In the poem, “The City Of The Cruise Ship Valor,” the speaker announces, “I am a
little god on vacation / entitled . . . I spend hours steeping/ in a whirlpool,
arrangemy pedicure . . . I bought
perfume / a leather wallet from the poor / in every port.”At the end she offers “Forgive me” to her female steward after she
brings her Dramamine, as if the speaker has been trying on a fancy lifestyle
but feels a fraud.

In the taut lyric, “Parking Lot,” the speaker likens herself
to a starling that “shakes / itself out all over, spangle-singing / into the
wind’s wide mouth,” poet bird-song as Anthem.
And “Unemployment” is a waiting line made visible in its column down the
page as it describes the people in line. By the end the speaker realizes that
she must be her “own second cup / of coffee, strong,” shoring herself in
strikingly concise language.

The keen eye behind the poems sees, in “Sunday Morning
Bowling League,” that “No matter what happened yesterday / or what might come
in the night / they take their strikes, their spares, / seriously, anchored in
camaraderie— / high-fives, the slapping of shoulders, / nice ball” as if the league has replaced family, and the supportive
banter among its members becomes a prescription for caring about and living
with one another. Drexler homes in with great compassion on a contemporary
tendency of secular morality to replace that of church-Sunday. And in the poem,
“Deluxe Town Diner,” a sense of possibility and of salvation comes across with
humor in the ever present staples of a diner: “Refuge of the Dream—Gulden’s /
spicy brown on Hebrew National, / honey bear, bottle of Tabasco, / cartel of
napkins, … polyglot Reubens and Rachels, Cobb salad, / democratic potpies. …
Deep in our duct- / taped booth, we are sated.”

A long poem in eighteen parts, “Gas Stations, Drive-ins, The
Bright Motels” makes up the entire middle section of the book. It is written in
the voice of a child of divorce, and is moving in its ability to relay the
child’s anguish in direct childlike language: “When / I play, I play alone:
separate / into families my trading cards— / horses from flowers from birds.”
“Daddy is generous with his ladle / of small talk.” With a life of shuttling
between a new home and Mommy’s boyfriends, and visits with Daddy at his home or
in motels, the child must “pretend Mommy and Daddy / are married again, and I’m
in / the orphanage” waiting to be chosen by her parents as if to affirm that
she was ever wanted. And in the concluding part she must “trace [her]self back
into being.” With great deft, Drexler makes us feel the tragedy of how early in
life this urge to re-imagine one’s place in the world becomes an imperative.

The title poem, part of a series from “Hopper Landscapes,”
is in the last section of the collection. Written in the voice of the woman in
the painting it speaks of “hills that gather into loaves” as if they are a form
of sustenance for her. She laments: “To be the one. To be the only one, / my
wrists shapely and disconsolate. / My fingers grip the bedrail hard. / I
console myself with light detached / from the empty wall.” Always the desire to
be somebody to someone, tinged with the angst of a return to isolation, shown with
the solid shapes and deep tones of Hopper.

There are poems here of assertion as well as longing. In
“Sun In An Empty Room,” the speaker implores, “Don’t call it empty, call it waiting, / if you are.” In “Riding Bareback,” “I let loose the
reins, lean forward, // grip his withers, the cord of his warm neck, //

whisper into his chestnut ear, Keep going. // Finish what you’ve started!” Words, both urgent and
wise intended as well for the rider, and for us. Poems about lovers, husbands,
and children abound here, affirming perseverance, and written with lyric
control in this affecting collection.

****** Joanne DeSimone Reynolds is a poet working on a
chapbook, “Comes A Blossom.”

Monday, May 28, 2012

Again and again, in poems of precision, conscience, and formal elegance, Dennis Daly arrests our vertiginous world so we may see its beauty, horror, and promise. Daly is a masterful poet, whether he is writing in free or formal verse, and the poems in this substantial gathering of his work accrue to a mature vision of our world as it is and as it could be. The Custom House is a book to savor, a book to treasure.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Poet Amaranth Borsuk: Talking with a visiting scholar
at the Sherman Café

By Doug Holder

On any given day at the Sherman Café you
can watch a passing parade of poets and writers while sipping your morning cup
of java. Recently I have chatted with
Julia Story, Joe Torra, Richard Cambridge, and Bert Stern to name a few. While
at my usual appointment in the said café the parade stopped and left off
Amaranth Borsuk. Borsuk joined me at my table and we discussed her life and
work as a poet. Amaranth is a slight, 30 something young woman, with an engaging
manner and an elfin smile. She is currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at
MIT. She has a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern
California, and has been published in such journals as Field, Colombia Poetry
Review, Colorado Review and others. She has a new collection of poetry out
titled Handiwork that was selected
for the 2011 Slope Editions Poetry Prize. Borsuk is particularly interested in
the use of writing technologies by modern and contemporary poets.

Borsuk has been in Somerville for over a year, and resides
in the Davis Square area of our town. She is originally from Connecticut, but
has lived in Los Angeles while she studied for her PhD. She feels the poetry
community in the Boston area is much more connected to academic institutions
than the LA scene is. She regularly attends poetry events in the area such as
the recent Mass. Poetry Festival and readings at Harvard. Part of her duties at
MIT is to teach and she encourages her students to attend poetry events in the
community.

Although Borsuk is a serious scholar she does not feel it
has a negative influence on her artistic side. She said: “My scholarly work makes me more engaged. My
deep analytical work helps me forge my own poetics.”

Borsuk is not only interested in the word, but also how poets throughout the years transfer the word to
the literal and virtual page. For instance when the typewriter came into play
it affected the writer’s style. Lines became more staccato-like—perhaps they
were influenced by the insistent, sharp pecking of the keys. She is also
fascinated by the way contemporary poets use borrowed texts from newspaper
clips, legal briefs, to Holocaust testimony, and other bits and pieces to
create poems. The poems are in essence made up by these selected and borrowed
texts. Choice becomes part of the art of the poem.

Borsuk also experiments with a hybrid of digital/print forms
of publishing. One of her innovative poetry collections gives you a website address
where you can view yourself opening the book… talk about the whole reading
experience!

Borsuk will be leaving Somerville in the fall but I am glad
that she had the chance to bask in the rich artistic milieu our town has to
offer.

Although you can read the essays straight through, I suggest you pick topics that particularly interest you and then reflect upon them. This book follows the trail blazed by earlier women writers, but men are welcome on the journey – to look over their sisters’ shoulders and discover tricks of the trade and perhaps wisdom.

The essays in “Women on Poetry” are structured around four distinct areas of thought:

In Part I “Our Writing Life – A Collective Voice” the fifteen essays explore different aspects

of our writing life. Several of the women tell the story of women’s poetry. In Sarah W. Bartlett's essay “Women Writing for (a ) Change: History, Philosophy, Programs” she states ‘We write to discover what we are feeling; to connect with our hearts; to work through difficult transitions; to express profound truths, share outrage, elicit support for a cause; to connect with other women; to create a legacy for our children.’ (p.52)

Among the essays that focus upon the practical concerns of women (and men) as they work to find their own poetic voice, I found most helpful Judith Skillman’s “The Fine Art of Revision”

Part II “We Who Pass It On – Tips On Teaching” opens with more practical ideas in “Ellen Bass’s Top 14 Teaching Tips.” Three of my favorites among these essential suggestions for any teacher new or old are: #1 ‘Say what you’re going to do and then do it;’ #9 ‘Don’t work harder than the student;’ and # 14 ‘maintain beginner’s mind’. (p.63)

Throughout this section there are many tips for the teacher and practicing poet that offer specific strategies for dealing with virtually any problem that might arise – there are suggestions and techniques for working with meter, beginning and ending poems, presenting at workshops or conferences and more.

Shelia Bender begins her essay “A Few Tips on Effective Line Breaks” by quoting poet Dana Levin, ‘Feeling speaks where the line is silenced.’ As she discusses the line breaks in her poem ‘At My Kitchen Window,’ she moves beyond simple technique and concludes, “Yes I thought, ‘Feeling speaks where the line is silenced.’ It’s our job as poets to find that ‘where.’”(p.73)

Part II concludes with Suzanna E. Henshon’s essay “Teaching with a Vision: Bringing your Inner Poet into the classroom.”

Part III “The Next Step – Publishing Our Poetry” discusses all aspects of publishing including the emotionally complex issues of revision, submission of completed work, self promotion by traditional as well as internet methods, creation of an audience, and in building a supportive writing community. This section presents the work of poetry as a business with the woman poet ‘as entrepreneur’ (Kim Bridgford) in charge of both her poetry and her life! Along with the useful suggestion there is encouragement for the younger writer and that is at times expressed with an ironic sense of humor – “How to Promote Your Poetry in Your Free Time ( While Working 40 Hours, Teaching at Night, and Restoring a Century-Old House)” by Karen Coody Cooper.

In Part IV “Just For Us – Essential Wisdom” the writers share their hard earned wisdom – those things they wished some older poet had told them when they were struggling to a voice as a poet and as a woman. Again there is here a wide and varied offering to aid the younger writer in that search to express the inexpressible in her or his own words.

Caught up in the rush of modern life, I found especially helpful Diana M. Raab’s “Nourishing Your Muse” with its concrete list: ‘How to Put Yourself in a Poetic State of Mind;’ and with its’

tricks for getting the Muse to help with writer’s block. While this book has much to offer men as well as women, it is primarily written for women by women to assist them on the writing journey.

The essays in “Women on Poetry” seem to undertake to reflect upon all that comes within the scope of women’s writing. It is by way of being a handbook or reference manual – an immense loosely connected guide book of essential, useful and miscellaneous information for travelers, tourists or students on the writing journey.

While I delight in its eclectic sampling of over 50 different women’s ideas, at times I miss getting to know the individual writers’ breadth of thought in greater depth. However, I recommend this collection of essays for any writing program, serious group of writing friends or isolated writer as an invaluable way to join the ongoing writing conversation. This work takes many hands and there is room for everyone to challenge and test her or his own ideas in the company of these interesting women.

Come join the poetry conversation and at whatever point you enter, you will find much to stimulate your own thought and to help you to move your work forward

OH Don't ,She Said..a poem/song project

( Preview and Purchase--click on pic) Oh Don’t, She Said ~ by Jennifer Matthews. Jennifer wrote this song after her friend and notable poet, Doug Holder, showed her his poem: “Oh don’t, she said, it’s cold.” After reading it, Jennifer felt inspired and heard a song in it. She had to change some of the words to make it work lyrically with the music, but she made sure to stay close to the original poem as much as possible. Jennifer played all the instruments on it and engineered it. It was mixed by Phil Greene at Normandy Sound, who worked with the likes of Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and many, many other noted artists. Doug wrote it after a conversation he had with his mother while riding on a train to New York City. It is dedicated to her, Rita Holder. Genre: Rock: Acoustic Release Date: 2014

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So Spoke Penelope by Tino Villanueva

(Click on picture to order now!) "An intense poetic hovering over a situation of prolonged expectation....The poems in SO SPOKE PENELOPE are simply amazing, whether in the form of an apostrophe to the absent Odysseus or to the Gods, whether in a narrative past-tense mode or in the immediacy of the lived present, whether in the staccato of monosyllables or in the exuberance of unusual compounds, whether they employ Greek-feeling pentameter lines, alliteration, or anaphora. This poetic cycle shows that the whole range of human experience is contained in Penelope of Ithaca."—Werner Sollors

Visitors from around the country and world...( Click on real time view for complete list)

New From Muddy River Books: Eating Grief at 3AM" by Doug Holder

(To order click on picture) “There is a sad, sweet nostalgia in Holder’s Eating Grief at 3 AM, a sense of loss and sadness for the places and the people who were a part of those scenes: the hunchback, the Tennessee Williams’ half lost blondes, the turbaned men and the discarded move nostalgically through life. Yet Holder finds something almost like beauty or knowledge in the abandoned warehouses with weeds crawling to the roof. He imagines when Mrs. Plant, an old art teacher, was an enigmatic young woman ‘feverishly taking notes about the paintings, a love note stuffed in a pocket of her winter coat.’ There are always dreams, even if never fulfilled. There is so often the sense of time passing, of letting go-- letting go of people, letting go of Harvard Square Theater and the Wursthaus, balms that seemed like they would always be there. And they are and always will be in Holder’s moving poems.” — Lyn Lifshin, Author of Cold Comfort (Black Sparrow Press) "

The Dark Opens by Miriam Levine

(To order click on picture) Awarded the Autumn House Poetry Prize. “This is a wondrous, spiritually tender book,” writes Denise Duhamel. From Mark Doty: “Somehow these effortless poems manage to be deeply connected to the solid physical world of friends and children, husband and neighbors, but also touch upon an airy, unfettered interiority . . . they are both straightforward and complicated at once, both earthly and awash in a world of light.” Levine’s memoir “Devotion” soon to be reissued in paperback.

Elizabeth Lund Interviews Doug Holder-Founder of the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

(Click on picture for interview)

With Robert Lowell and his Circle by Kathleen Spivack

(Click on image to order the book) "Please join us for the book launch, Sunday , December 2, 2012--4 to 6 P.M. Co-sponsored by UPNE, the Harvard Bookstore & the Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Cambridge, MA. Short presentation, lots of refreshments. In 1959, Kathleen Spivack won a fellowship to study at Boston University with Robert Lowell. Her fellow students were Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, among others. The book looks at the work of poetry, as well as lifelong friendships, despair, addiction, perseverance and survival, and at how social changes altered lives and circumstances. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, this memoir illuminates the lives and thoughts of some of the most influential artists of the twentieth century."

Please donate to the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene- keep us alive!

(Click on Picture to order) "Starting with Allen Ginsberg and ending with Charlie Parker, Sam Cornish takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the livelier segments of 1950s and early ’60s American culture. With non-stop energy, syncopated rhythms, and a fast pace that keeps you humming as you turn the pages, Cornish visits a wide array of writers, musicians, and films, stopping along the way to visit local poetry scenes and pay tribute to the homeless and poor. Calling on Jack Kerouac, Langston Hughes, Marlon Brando, Miles Davis and a host of others, Cornish makes us feel the excitement of those times, even as he and his companions absorb the complex and often disturbing history of what he aptly calls “My Young America.” — Martha Collins

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click on pic for more info.....( Sherill Tippins--"Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel.") " I love your introduction, and fervently hope that Somerville never meets anything like the Chelsea Hotel's fate. It's always a pleasure to read your blog -- even when I'm not in it!" Alan Kaufman ( Editor of the "Outlaw Bible of American Literature")-- " ...a terrific blog..." Perry Glasser--( Winner of the Gival Press Novel Award): " The blog is very impressive." Elizabeth Swados ( Tony Nominated Playwright, Guggenheim Award Winner ): "Thanks you so much for this review on your blog. It helps so much, not just in terms of getting people to know that it exists, but also makes me feel that someone has gotten what I have tried to do. I wish you the very best." Marguerite G. Bouvard, PhD-- Resident Scholar Women's Research Center-Brandeis University: " I love reading your blog. What a refreshing respite from the New York Times. Thanks for all you do for poetry." Ed Hamilton--author of "Legends of the Chelsea Hotel" commenting on Chelsea Hotel article: " That's a great piece. Thanks for sending the link along." Richard Moore-- Finalist/T.S.Eliot Prize " I have just read your wonderful interview of the wonderful Eric Greinke!" Steven Ford Brown (Former Director of Research for the George Plimpton Interview Series "The Writer in America"): " You did a great job with the Clayton Eshleman interview, especially the personal stuff. So much better than doing the dry talk about literary polemics." Celia Gilbert (Pushcart Prize in Poetry) "Doug thanks so much for that fine shout out. I'm delighted how you put it all together!" Karen Alkalay-Gut, PhD ( Professor of English-Tel Aviv University) "Doug, I enjoy your posts immensely" Lise Haines ( Writer-in-Residence, Emerson College-Boston) "I love your blog!" "( Elizabeth Searle- Executive Board/Pen New England) : "Like your blog. I like the interview with Rick Moody." Ploughshares Staff- " Everyone at Ploughshares is a big fan of your blog." Suzanne Wise (Publicity Director Poets House-NYC): "Thank you so much for this wonderfully thoughtful portrait of our new home! You really "get us" and you translate that understanding vividly. I love the way you talk about Stanley's ( Kunitz) giant dictionary as a relic from another age. We're glad to preserve such relics." Kathleen Bitetti ( Chief Curator Medicine Wheel Productions/ Former Director of the Artists Foundation--Boston.) " Love your interview with Marc Zegans...wonderful blog!"

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Ibbetson Street is now in a partnership with Endicott College!

(Click on to go to the Endicott College Website)Ibbetson will be supported in part and formally affiliated with Endicott College.

The Arts and Literature in Somerville, Mass.: Off the Shelf with Doug Holder

( Click on picture to go to column) A weekly column in The Somerville News--Somerville's only independent newspaper!

The Somerville News Writers Festival Nov. 13, 2010

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ISCS PRESS--WE WILL PUBLISH YOUR BOOK!

Boston's leading co-publisher... (Click on title for more information)

The Boston Globe: Poetic Healing at McLean Hospital

This was the lead article in the Living/Arts section of the Boston Globe. (Feb. 2000) It has to do with Doug Holder's poetry workshops at McLean Hospital and the history of this literary landmark. (Click on pic for full article)

(Click on picture to view) A Production of Somerville Community Access TV's show " Poet to Poet : Writer to Writer." Moderator: Gloria Mindock, Producer: Doug Holder, Director: Bill Barrell

"The Paris of New England" Interviews with Poets and Writers" by Doug Holder

( Click on pic to order this and other Ibbetson Press titles) Interviews with poets and writers from the Paris of New England Somerville, Mass. " Thank you for your interview book. I read it straight through last night and enjoyed it very much...So many good ideas in one book." Eric Greinke-- Presa Press "Very engrossing collection of Holder's interviews, with a wide range of writers about their lives and work. Included are Mike Basinski, Mark Doty, Robert Creeley, Ed Sanders, Hugh Fox, Robert K. Johnson, and Pagan Kennedy.-- Chiron Review

Advertise with a popular online and print literary column in the heart of the Paris of New England

Reach a wide swath of the Boston Area literary community through The Somerville News' "Off the Shelf" literary Column with Doug Holder. The column is online and in a weekly print edition that reaches 15,000 readers. For more information click on picture.

Grolier Poetry Book Shop

" Poetry is honored every day at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, the oldest continuous poetry book shop in the United States. We stock over 15,000 volumes and spoken word CD's. Special orders are welcome. Come and visit us at 6 Plympton St. or online http://grolierpoetrybookshop.org (click on picture)

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Doug Holder/ Founder/ Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene: Advertise with a popular Boston Area Literary Site--For Low rates-- Contact: dougholder@post.harvard.edu 617-628-2313

Poetry Workshops With Doug Holder

( Click on Picture for Doug Holder's website) Doug Holder has led poetry workshops, both for indviduals and groups for a decade now. Robert Olen Butler ( Pulitzer Prize Winner for Literature) wrote of Holder's work: " I've been greatly enjoying your poems. You have a major league talent, man." Available for individual or groups. Expert in gently helping the novice into poetry and the poetry scene. Reasonable Rates. Available for editing. Call 617-628-2313 for more information. Or email: dougholder@post.harvard.edu

Ibbetson Street Press

No One Dies at the Au Bon Pain by Doug Holder

Poems of Boston and Just Beyond: From The Back Bay to the Back Ward by Doug Holder

A poetry collection that deals with Boston, and Holder's experiences working on the psychiatric units at McLean Hospital

Of All the Meals I Had Before by Doug Holder

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The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel (To order click on picture)

A new poetry book by Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene Founder, Doug Holder. "I'm enjoying 'The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel' -- perfect poems, especially in that ambiance." Dan Tobin -- Director of Creative Writing--Emerson College-Boston, Mass./ " It is quintessential Holder& bristles with sardonic wit. Congratulations."-- Eric Grienke (founder of Presa Press) / " I finished "The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel'...greatly enjoyed the menagerie of characters and imperfect human beings I met along the way. Excellent work Doug!"-- Paul Steve Stone ( Creative Director W.B.Mason and the autthor of "Or So It Seems.") / "I am reminded in the pages of this collection of meeting, a year or two before her death, the artist Alice Neel, who painted gorgeously surreal ironic portraits of famous and ordinary people in the 1930's and 40's--and shivering as she looked me over. Doug Holder looks at the world through a similarly sharp and amused set of eyes...Rich nuggets of humor and wry reflection throughout this collection." Pamela Annas ( Asst. Dean of Humanities U/Mass Boston/Reviewer Midwest Book Review) “....particularly liked The Tunnel—a little masterpiece!” Kathleen Spivack ( Permanent Visiting Professor of Creative Writing/American Literature at the University of Paris) "I want to tell you this was just about the best chap I ever read, I absolutely DEVORED it..."--( Robin Stratton--Boston Literary Magazine) "An acclaimed Boston-area poet writes about characters who have captured his interest over the years -- a colonial dame with purple hair, a postal worker ready to be returned to his sender, J. Edgar Hoover's secret love -- in this skillfull collection of short, free form poems." (Perkins School of the Blind Website) Click on picture to access Cervena Barva Press

About Me

Doug Holder is the founder of the independent literary press Ibbetson Street. He teaches writing at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and Endicott College in Beverly, Mass. He is the arts/editor of The Somerville News, and for the past twenty years has run poetry groups at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. His poetry and prose have appeared in the Bay State Banner, The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Magazine, Rattle, Endicott Review, Long Island Quarterly, Toronto Quarterly and many others. He holds an M.A. in Literature from Harvard University.

Poems From The Left Bank: Somerville, Mass. by Doug Holder

( Click on picture to order) "The poems are full of life, witty and sympathetic and sharp all at once. And most of all, full of an engaged affection for the place and people. If Burns is Scotland's Bard, you are certainly Somerville's..." Kate Chadbourne, PhD ( Lecturer-Harvard University-Celtic Languages and Literature)

From The Paris of New England: Interviews with Poets and Writers" by Doug Holder

(Click on picture to order) Interviews by Doug Holder from the Paris of New England: Somerville, Mass. "I am impressed. A lot of great interviews compiled over the years."-- Brian Morrisey--Poesy Magazine / " A very engrossing read..."--Chiron Review / "Doug Holder knows how to ask important questions"--New Pages

Advertise with the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene.

Doug Holder founder says: "Reach a wide audience of poets, writers, editors and publishers, Have your ad linked to your site. The Boston area Small Press and Poetry Scene is well known in the small press community..." For information about rates, etc...email: dougholder@post.harvard.edu or call 617-628-2313